- By Aditya Jha
- Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:17 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bengal Assembly Election: With just a few weeks remaining in the West Bengal Assembly election, all the leading parties have intensified their campaigns. As per the trends, the election is again likely to be a direct contest between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the major opposition party BJP. Malda is one of the most politically relevant regions in the poll-bound state with around 50 seats. While Malda was considered Congress' bastion post-independence, the TMC has emerged as the favorite in the past few polls, showing a clear shift in the voting pattern.
Malda: Gradual Decline Of Congress
Earlier in the 2011 Assembly election, the TMC came to power in the eastern state for the first time by winning 184 out of the 296 seats. However, the voting pattern in Malda differed from other regions as Congress managed to win 25 out of the 49 seats with a vote share of 31.6 per cent.
TMC's Rise In 2016
Mamata Banerjee emerged as the undisputed biggest leader of Bengal politics in the 2016 Assembly election as the TMC won 211 seats. The ruling party still could not overtake Congress in Malda as the grand old party won 26 seats. However, the TMC's tally significantly improved as the party managed to register victory on 10 seats with a 32.7 per cent vote share.
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2021- Congress' Massive Fall
The story completely changed in the 2021 Assembly election as the Mamata Banerjee-led party won 38 out of the total 49 seats. However, the biggest surprise was the rise of the BJP, as the saffron party managed to win 11 seats with 30.2 per cent of the vote. The Congress could not win even a single seat in its bastion, showing a massive shift in the politics of Malda.
While the TMC and BJP will try to improve their tallies in the region, the Congress will contest to regain its bastion.